Things Never Change
by MasterRaccoonus
Summary: Taking place after the events of Sly 3, Sly is now working for Interpol alongside Carmelita Fox. Barkley, having a vendetta against the two, always ends up giving them the short end of the stick. When they do finally get a dangerous mission, everything goes awry. What will happen with Sly? Will this change his and Carmelita's relationship? Rated M for violence and lemon!


**A.N: **_Hello! I have had this idea in my head for years and I am super excited to finally write this story out. I had published the first chapter earlier, but decided I hated it and I rewrote it. So here it is! _

_This story takes place after the events of Sly 3. I plan for it to be a pretty long and in-depth story. I'm sorry if it seems slow at first! Please enjoy!_

_**Warning: This story is rated M for good reason. There is drug use, abuse/torture, and lemon. So please, if this is something you want to avoid, stop here!**_

**Chapter One**

It was a hot summer in Paris, one that not many would soon forget. It had been years since temperatures had run this high. Fans were oscillating and papers were fanned vigorously inside the offices of Interpol. Lights were dimmed and complaints were whispered throughout the building.

James Barkley leaned back in his chair with his legs propped up on his desk. He fanned himself with the dossier he was working on and panted trying to cool himself off. Just these past few months had been a game changer for Interpol. Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox had come back with one of the most infamous criminals on the list. Sly Cooper. Though she didn't come back with him in handcuffs or to throw him in the slammer. No. She came in with him by her side, running off on some story about how he had amnesia and how essential he was for the Interpol's operation.

Barkley scoffed just thinking about it. He had waited years for that dirty raccoon to be behind bars, and yet here Carmelita somehow convinced him that having the thief on their side would be beneficial. She wasn't wrong, of course. Since they had been back, they had been on a myriad of missions together. Each one going according to plan and proving Sly Cooper was indeed a valuable asset. Arrest rates were off the chart and the streets were looking cleaner and cleaner by the month. Carmelita and Sly were the dream team.

Now that didn't mean Barkley didn't have his suspicions about the raccoon. How could one just possibly up and lose all of his memories? Years worth of criminal activity and years of hell he gave the police. He felt as though justice hadn't been served. This was the main reason why Barkley wouldn't give the two any high profile missions. Carmelita clearly was upset about the lack of work, but Barkley could care less. He would prove that no-good thief was still nothing but a liar.

Laying down the dossier he was fanning himself with, Barkley opened it up slowly while resting his chin on folded hands. This case had been eating him up for months now, and no matter how good his best cops were, nobody could get close enough to the enemy to crack it. His eyes scanned the papers over and over, hoping to find new ideas.

* * *

**Carter Whitley Dossier**

Drug Kingpin

**DOB: **August 8th, 1973

**SEX: **Male

**SPECIES: **Cougar

**BIRTHPLACE: **Ottawa, Canada

**RESIDENCE: **Cancun, Mexico

_Carter B. Whitley spent his childhood in Ottawa, Canada. On October 12, 1986, his parents were involved in a car crash that resulted in their passing. This left Whitley to fend for himself._

_He found his way into dealing a drug known as "Nip". This drug is a mixture of the coca leaf and a plant called lichen. It is highly addictive and causes the user to have no inhibitions. Usually leading to heinous acts (i.e assault and murder). The effects can last for up to two days and usually ends with excessive sleeping and depression. _

_Whitley slowly climbed up the ranks and eventually opened up his own operation in Cancun, Mexico, becoming one of the biggest kingpins distributing Nip in the entire world. They use a hotel front for their facility by the name of Hotel Reforma. Multiple laundry vans have been reported coming to and from the hotel several times a day. This suspicious behavior has led us to believe this is how they are distributing Nip across Mexico. However, little is known about their global operations, but we believe this hotel is the center of it._

* * *

Barkley was barely able to make it a few sentences in before a loud knock at his door made him jump from his seat. "Come in!" Barkley yelled, agitated at this disturbance.

The doorknob turned and the door slowly opened. Barkley immediately recognized the gorgeous vixen head that peeked through.

"Ah, Carmelita. Come. Sit." He gestured for her to sit down in front of his desk. He closed the dossier and opened his desk drawer to fish out a cigar, which he quickly put to his lips and lit it. Barkley took one big puff, eyed Carmelita up and down, and leaned back in his chair. "What can I do for you?"

"Sir, we just wrapped up the Sun Bear case. Turns out that the Sun Bear brothers were holding an illegal fight club in the catacombs of Paris. Sly and I managed to apprehend both brothers and bring an end to the fight club," She stated. "Sly is working on the paperwork now."

Carmelita's Latina accent rang through Barkley's ears. If she wasn't so damn attractive, he wouldn't have even bothered to hear her out. His eyes lingered on her for just a little too long and he knew it. Carmelita gave him a firm look and scowled.

"Good work Inspector." Barkley cleared his throat and ashed his cigar into his ashtray. "Is that all or are you expecting a gold medal?"

Carmelita crossed her arms at this and let out a low growl. "Sir, it's obvious these missions are a little below my pay grade. I feel like you have been giving me the short end of the stick since I've been back."

"Are you saying this work is below you? We've always got traffic duty as well" Barkley started shuffling papers, clearly fed up with where this conversation was headed.

"All I'm asking for is a job that I- That Sly and I have proven ourselves worthy of doing." Carmelita quickly spotted the dossier on Barkley's desk and swiped it into her hands. "Like this. This is perfect!"

Barkley laughed, smoke bursting out of his nostrils. "You think you can handle the Whitley case? Nobody has been able to crack that since we've opened it!"

"If I can solve this case within the week, will you start giving us more suitable jobs?" The vixen tilted her head and asked in the most flattering way she possibly could. It wasn't like Carmelita to use flirting as a way of getting what she wanted, but she could read Barkley like a book, and this was a chance she couldn't pass up.

Barkley sighed and put out his cigar. Leaning forward on his desk, he folded his hands again.

"If you can do this in one week," he stated, "I will give you a promotion. I'm really at a loss on this one."

* * *

Camerlita happily sauntered over to Sly's desk, her tail swishing from side to side as her hips swayed. A few curious heads peaked around from their cubicles as she passed. As she approached Sly's desk, she stopped for a moment to watch him. There he was typing away vigorously at his computer. He was wearing a black quarter sleeve shirt that clung to his toned body and a black leg pouch that carried his pistol. Pinned on the outside of his pouch was his Interpol badge. Carmelita always said he should find a better place to display it. Like a collar or lanyard, which always got her responses such as "I don't need to look fashionable, besides the less the better!". She shook her head as her eyes remained on Sly, watching his muscles slightly move in his arms as he typed away.

For years she had chased him down. Wherever he went, she followed. It was a never ending game of cat and mouse. For a while she wanted nothing more than to see that ring tail behind bars. After some time, his charms started to get to her. She realized that they both were working for the same cause, just on opposite sides of the law. Granted that didn't mean he wasn't a criminal. When he lost his memory on Cain Island and left behind all of that treasure and his cane, she knew his thieving days were behind him. So long as he never got his memory back. She had spent months keeping up this facade that they had been partners all along, and went out of the way to avoid things that might spark his memory.

"How long are you planning on staring at me?" Sly's voice rang out. He didn't even look away from his computer screen.

"I. Uh. Sorry, I got lost in thought. You're kind of cute when you're focused." Carmelita closed the gap between her and his desk, and she laid down the dossier for Sly.

"What's that? Another job already?" Sly stopped typing and turned in his chair to pick up the papers and thumb through them. "Whitley, huh? Says here he's in Cancun. We get to finally travel?"

"We are flying out tomorrow morning. Barkley already has prepared the tickets and hotel. Make sure to pack summer clothes. We will need to fit in as tourists." Carmelita smiled at the thought of Sly in tan cargo shorts and a button up flower shirt. She quickly glanced at the clock and frowned when she realized how late it was getting.

"I'll be done within an hour," Sly said reassuringly. "You can go home. I'll try and be as quick as possible."

Carmelita gave him a light squeeze on the shoulder and leaned in to kiss his cheek. She hurried into the locker rooms to gather her bag. The next shift was beginning to arrive. Chit chat filled the room and she had to maneuver between people filing in just to get out. She shook her head and let out a sigh and made her way to the exit, waving goodnight to the security officer up front. She stepped outside and took a long breath of the fresh night air. Feeling giddy about finally getting a bigger job, she half skipped, half jogged her way home.

* * *

Carmelita stepped into her apartment and turned on the lights. Locking the door behind her, she made her way into the bedroom closet and dug out two suitcases. _'Might as well pack for Sly as well' _she thought. She turned to a big armoire in the other corner of the room. Opening up the two small drawers at the bottom, she grabbed a couple of Sly's shirts and a couple of pairs of shorts. He didn't happen to have any tourist shirts, but this would do just fine. She was about to close the drawer when something glistened and caught her eye. She quickly moved some more shirts over to reveal the bottom of the drawer.

Sitting there under his clothes was a beautiful oval cut diamond necklace with a silver chain. It shined beautifully as she turned it over in her hand. _'How could he afford to get this?' _she thought to herself before her face became very taught. _'Did he steal this?'. _How else would Sly have been able to get his hands on something this valuable? Carmelita growled lowly to herself and put the diamond necklace back underneath his clothing. She began aggressively going through her drawers and packed her things.

Needing to blow off steam, she figured a shower would probably be best. She would bring the necklace up at a later time. For all she knew he could have saved up for it and bought it. Maybe he was just hiding it until he was ready to give it to her. Either way, she couldn't help thinking deep down that he had stolen it. Determining that the water was warm enough, she stepped into the shower. Standing there in silence, she let the water wash over her and drown out her rage. What seemed like seconds turned out to be twenty minutes. Carmelita was pruned by the time she turned the water off and stepped out to dry herself. Being able to think things through while she showered helped her cool off a decent amount. Besides, what is a relationship without trust anyways?

She let her wet hair fall past her shoulders and decided to go with one of Sly's t-shirts and her underwear for pajamas. She normally waited for Sly to get home, but today had drained her and she was ready to crawl up into the pillow-y comfort of their bed. She slid under the covers and turned to her side, closing her eyes tight. She heard the front door open, but remained laying there with her eyes closed. Sly shuffled into their bedroom and it sounded like him stripping his clothes. Shortly after she felt him crawl into bed with her, and he wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled his face into the back of her neck. They both lay there in the dark, Sly sleeping soundly and Carmelita letting out silent tears.


End file.
